Affinivax, Astellas deal
Affinivax granted Astellas exclusive, worldwide rights to its lead vaccine candidate targeting Streptococcus pneumoniae to treat pneumococcal disease. Affinivax will receive $10 million up front and is eligible for undisclosed milestones, plus tiered royalties. Astellas will lead and fund development of the program, which uses the biotech’s Multiple Antigen Presenting System (MAPS) platform. Affinivax declined to disclose a timeline, but said it is close to completing preclinical studies and submitting an IND.
Affinivax said that MAPS is designed to provide a broad protective immune response compared to conventional vaccines. Using affinity binding between biotin and rhizavidin, vaccines built via the platform present both a polysaccharide antigen and a protein antigen to induce immune responses. Affinivax licensed the MAPS technology from Boston Children's Hospital (Boston, Mass.)...